Category: Uncategorized

Sunrise is always my favorite part of these things.  This morning, however, it was hard to tell that we weren’t about to be inside of a fog bank.  The fog didn’t materialize, but the clouds are low and the air is very damp.

There were some brief showers, but the track is mostly dry (on line) and otherwise slick from moisture and lots of fluids donated by expiring race cars.

We are still 2 plus laps up on the #19 car – they have a bit more pace, but we have enough of a lead (barring some sort of problem).  This thing isn’t over yet.

Bruce is in the car and we’ve done a major brake task on the car.  We were having issues with the rear brakes and decided to take the time to replace the rotors and ended up doing pads, as well.  The fronts, so far, look okay.

We ran as high as 9th overall overnight.  We are currently 1st in E3 with the HPD Honda approximately 2 laps behind.  The gap seems to be stable and we have a fuel mileage advantage.

Ken is back in the car and it has 4 new tires to go along with a full load of fuel.  The number 2 car in class is the Honda Performance Development CR-Z #19.  Judging by their appearance at our tire change clinic, it seems we have their attention and the fight is on.  One way or another, I think we get to find out what “pro” means.

Will has a second load of fuel.  He was in 11th overall when he came to the pits.  The HPD 2 CR-Z is second place in E3 (5 laps down prior to the stop).

Carrie took these photos of the driver exchange:

Will Schrader got into the car at ten o’clock.  Jonny had been in the car driving in the rain for over 4 hours.  We ran as high as 12th place overall during this time and returned to the race in 15th.  We still have an approximately 5 lap lead in E3.

The previous caution for the incident at turn 1 ended being changed to a red flag condition.  All of the cars were stopped on the front straight for about 10 minutes – about half a dozen caution laps followed as they cleaned up the mess.  Two cars of the older Honda / Acura variety, who appeared to be team mates, had found each other in a big way.  It looked as if everybody was okay, but the cars… – not so much.

It is raining relatively hard and there is another Full Course Caution – this time in turn 1.  The incident ended near the exit and on the track.  We are preparing for Will Schrader to get into the car.

We fueled Jonny 30 minutes ago, and everything continues to go well.  The rain had slowed and then stopped before our trip to the pits, but had started again before we had to hurt ourselves by thinking too hard about what to do next.  There is no sign now that it will stop anytime soon.

The confusing live timing system has us believing we are up by approximately four laps.  The second place team is another Performance Touring (PTE) based Miata (Team Integri).  I don’t think we’ve ever seen this team before.

Full course yellow at 7:45pm for a crash at turn 9.

Another occurrence during the recent extended full course yellow was that a car apparently spun and hit a safety vehicle.  That is the kind of thing they take your birthday away for.  

Jonny Davies just got into the car.  We had a lengthy debate about how, where and which tires to change – the rules only allow a single tire change per pit-stop in the hot pits.

We ended up going to full rains at just about the exact time we were due to put Jonny in the car.  We were just over 4 minutes to get into the paddock, change 4 tires, swap drivers and fill with fuel.

The rain has been medium-hard since we put the new tires on, but currently seems to be lessening.

We are currently the class leader.